WELLINGTON BUILDINGS

Greymouth Evening Star, 12 August 1942, Page 6

WELLINGTON BUILDINGS

DEMOLITION ORDERED.

WELLINGTON, August 10. The fate of the municipally-owned buildings in the Town Hall block was decided at a special meeting of the Wellington City Council, called today, to discuss the earthquake damages. Four buildings owned by the Corporation are to be demolished. The Town Hall building is to be vacated for about three months, while repair work is going on. Temporary offices, to accommodate the staff of 200, will be erected immediately. The Taffic Department is being temporarily housed in the boat shed property on the opposite side of Jervois Quay. The old Education Board building at the back of the Town Hall which is occupied by the Health Department, and the National Patriotic Fund Board, is to have immediately the dangerous sections removed before being completely demolished. The old Technical College building, occupied by the Metropolitan and Provincial Patriotic Councils, has been condemned, and it will be demolished. The old Library building, a large brick structure, standing at the back of Mercer and Wakefield Streets, is also to be demolished. Though the severe damage to the Town Hall itself can easily be repaired, and the building made as safe as before, the building occupied by the City Engineer and his staff has been strained. But. it is isolated. It can be restored to a safe condition. BUILDING CODE. WELLINGTON. August 11. The recent earthquake had demonstrated the need lor the enforcement of a comprehensive modern building code, Mr. Sullivan said today. Expert examination had shown, that buildings erected according to the latest knowledge of resistant construction had stood the shocks well. “Additional legislative authority may be necessary,” he said, “to secure effective enforcement of the standard code of building by-laws. It looks as if the mandatory application of the standard building code throughout the Dominion offers the only adequate means of affording protection against loss of life and property resulting from earthquakes.”